VIDEO: Joe Biden Visits MN To Tout Infrastructure Package

ROSEMOUNT, MN —President Joe Biden traveled Tuesday afternoon to Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount to discuss the recently approved $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package.

During his visit to Minnesota, he explained how it will benefit Minnesotans and create good-paying union jobs. In addition to touting the infrastructure deal, he found himself reassuring the nation he would fight the evolving COVID-19 threat without resorting to “shutdowns and lockdowns.”

“This new variant is a cause of concern, but not a cause to panic,” Biden said at the college.

This is Biden's first visit to Minnesota since becoming president.

He met with students at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount in a garage space with a bulldozer, backhoe and cargo truck before delivering a speech criticizing GOP lawmakers for opposing his social services and climate spending bill that would expand health care coverage, enhance job training for students at community colleges, and offer child care benefits for middle and low income Americans.

"The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will rebuild America’s roads, bridges and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind," the White House announced in a statement earlier this month.

Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law on Nov. 15.

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party praised the infrastructure deal, calling it a "blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America."

“For decades, presidents from both parties have been trying and failing to pass the kind of once-in-a-generation infrastructure bill that President Biden delivered within a year of taking office. The divide between the two parties could not be more clear: Republicans used their time in power to cut taxes for the already-rich. Democrats put shots in arms and money in pockets with the American Rescue Plan, and today we delivered a historic investment in America that will create millions of good-paying, working-class jobs and repair our country’s crumbling infrastructure," MN DFL said in a statement.

SEE ALSO:

• Road Closures Expected In Rosemount For Biden's MN Visit

According to the White House, Minnesota is set to receive the following from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act:

• $4.5 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs and $302 million for bridge replacement and repairs over five years.
• More than $818 million over five years to improve public transportation options across the state.
• $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state, including providing access to the at least 83,000 Minnesotans who currently lack it.
  • Also, 1,071,000 or 18.9% of people in Minnesota will be eligible for the Affordability Connectivity Benefit, which will help low-income families afford internet access.
• $680 million over five years to improve water infrastructure across the state and ensure that clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Republican Party has criticized Biden's visit to DCTC, accusing the president of missing the mark.

"Biden’s visit to MN today marks a missed opportunity to visit Rosemount’s largest private employer: Pine Bend Refinery," the party said in a statement posted to Facebook on Tuesday morning. "Instead, Biden will visit Dakota County Technical College, once again snubbing the energy sector that keeps Minnesota going."

Biden won Minnesota in last year's presidential election with 52.6 percent of the vote. He's visited the state's second congressional district, a potentially vulnerable seat in the midterms that narrowly went to Democratic Rep. Angie Craig in 2020.

Watch video of Biden's visit Tuesday to Dakota County Technical College below:

The Associated Press contributed to this report.